


Exception

by aiavena



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M, Soonhoonfest Round 1
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-19
Updated: 2016-09-19
Packaged: 2018-08-16 00:12:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8079337
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aiavena/pseuds/aiavena
Summary: And maybe, just maybe, he’s the exception to Lee Jihoon’s life.





	

There was a time when I wished to be born as a different person. I hated my life so much, that crying about it or being depressed seemed to be the norm in my life. Until I have to come to a decision to stop caring altogether.

 

Why should I care when nobody did? Why should I let myself be depressed when the only person who cared about me was just me? Why should I even give a damn when nobody even considered my feelings? No one did. Not even my own family.

 

Family—they are those with the same blood as I. No, I was born from the same flesh as them.

 

Technically, they’re supposed to be the first to care and ask if I'm okay. Unfortunately, they don’t, and I have come to accept that fact. They’re too busy making sure our family’s business is doing well. They’re too busy making a name for themselves that they’ve already forgotten that it’s not just the two of them in the family, that they have a son—their one and only son. So that’s how I lived my life with them.

 

I was merely someone they’d greet good morning at breakfast, and someone they’d say goodnight before they retire for the day. I was just someone they’d criticize when I didn’t do well at school. I was only a part of their master plan—to be looked up by the whole city. And for that plan to succeed, I had to live up to their expectations.

 

That’s just who I am to my own family; a mere part of their elaborate plan to take over the business world—nothing more, nothing less. And I hated how it has always been like this for us.

 

I felt as if I was a living doll. I did what they expect me to do. They didn’t even care if I want something not tangible. Everything is about money. I hated it. I hated my life so much.

 

Even my school life revolved around reputation. _Everything was about money_ , as if it’s the only thing worth mentioning when it comes to me. “Oh, look how rich the Lees are?” and all the other comments about my wealth, my family, my reputation.

 

_God, I hate this with all my heart._

 

So I had come to hate everything and everyone...

 

…until I met…

 

_Kwon Soonyoung._

 

* * *

 

 I was playing the piano during break that time. Music is a passion my family does not support, but nonetheless, they benefitted from it by making me play whenever they’d hold corporate events. It’s the only good thing I have in my life, and the only reason I could endure hours at a party I never wished to go to.

 

I was playing random chords on the sleek black grand piano. I just wanted to drown myself in music and forget the rest of the world. It was working. I was so immersed in the music that I didn’t notice someone was watching me.

 

I stopped once I heard someone applaud—a little too enthusiastically for my liking. So I turned to look at whoever the unwelcomed person was.

 

And it was probably the best decision of our lives, because that very moment changed us both—in more ways than one.

 

* * *

 

“Play Chopin for me today, please?”

 

It became a habit. I’d go to the music room followed by the small-eyed boy as I listened to him name songs he’d like me to play. I was surprised when he first started listing Mozart’s compositions one time we were hanging out. From symphonies to piano concertos, to my favorite sonatas, I never thought he was the kind who would listen to classical music and be very knowledgeable about them. So I’d indulge him despite how annoyingly enthusiastic he gets.

 

“Which Chopin do you want to hear this time?”

 

Being with him like this, I never thought I’d like it as much as I’d like to admit. I don’t know how we ended up like this. I don’t even remember talking to him before we met for the first time at the music room, but then he never questioned me about my life, and never asked for anything that involves money. It’s the first time someone wanted to be with me for who I was—just Lee Jihoon—and not as the heir of Lee Industries, so I got used to seeing him around while I allowed music to drown me.

 

And maybe, just maybe, he’s the exception to Lee Jihoon’s life.

 

* * *

 

It’s a known fact at school that I wouldn’t make friends unless they’re part of my childhood. Wonwoo and Jun had been the only people who managed to get close to being friends with me. _I hate people_ and they have accepted that side of me. They’re there, close enough but not quite. I like it that way. They’re my comrades. They understood why I’m like this, and they never held it against me if I didn’t want to hang out.

 

And no one else has come closer to me—until Kwon Soonyoung turned up in my life.

 

* * *

 

Weeks, months, and many, many years since that fateful day, I have come to know bits of Soonyoung that made him who he is. He made it easier for me to smile and appreciate life more. He’s the reason why I have come to like my life now, and the reason why everything around me changed for the better.

 

* * *

 

I joined a piano competition a year into our friendship. It was the very first time I agreed to show off my skills outside the usual corporate events I play for. Mainly, it was because of Soonyoung and his nonstop nagging.  It was nerve-wrecking, and it was the first time I felt like my heart’s going to burst out. But knowing Soonyoung’s at the gallery watching me. I felt easier—fingers relaxed enough to smoothly play Chopin’s Etude Op 25.

 

My parents were so mad when they found out and I just wanted to disappear. They didn’t even congratulate me for passing round one. But Soonyoung assured me that everything will be okay. That they’ll eventually see what he saw in me. That he’ll make it better.

 

I trusted him so much, and he never disappoints.

 

Soonyoung, despite coming from an average family, went out of his way to persuade my parents to watch me perform. I was not aware until my mother told me at dinner how a blonde boy with slanting eyes would go to the company building every evening to send a letter to them, and that I have to do something about it because the boy was interrupting their work.

 

It was the first time I smiled in front of them. I didn’t know the reason back then, but I was so happy I would have cried tears of joy if I could. I didn’t even remember what else they said because the only thought that occupied my head that time was all about Kwon Soonyoung.

 

* * *

 

 

“Why are you doing all these for me?”

 

I couldn’t stop myself. I wanted to know why he was trying his best to make me smile, why he’d stick around such an aloof guy like me. Why is he so comfortable around me when I mostly never said more than a few words? Why is he pushing himself to bring my parents to the competition?

 

He only gave me his knowing smile, along with a shrug of his broad shoulders.

 

“I just want to.”

 

* * *

 

It was the last day of the piano competition. Jun and Wonwoo were part of the audience. I kept on looking at my phone becauseI couldn't see Soonyoung anywhere, despite promising he'd come. He even told me not to tell what I’ll play for the finals because he wanted to be surprised. I scoffed at him for it. He’s heard me play pretty much everything I could except for one—Liebesleid.

 

_Love’s Sorrow._

 

I didn’t even understand why I chose it for my last piece. I just felt like it’d fit. And surely, it did.

 

I played and played, allowing my fingers to glide all over the black and white keys, hitting them softly at first until they become faster, and faster, creating an aura of melancholy all over the gallery. Whether he was there or not, I kept on playing until my finger hit the final note. I was not given any time to think or to sweep my eyes all over my surroundings. I just thought of the music room and his smiling face.

 

Maybe, just maybe, he made it in time for my performance—the greatest of my life.

 

* * *

 

I stood up after and looked around. There he was, near the door. He was smiling so wide, his white teeth were visible to me despite the distance, and right next to him were my mother and father. They look like they’d seen a ghost. It wasn’t how they usually looked when I play. This was different.

 

I couldn’t believe my eyes. They were really here. I would have cried that very instant but I was supposed to leave the stage.

 

And as I reached the door, I couldn’t stop my tears from flowing. I cried and cried like I never did before.

 

It was liberating. I felt all the pain I have accumulated all these years flow out along with the tears. I cried and cried until I couldn’t anymore.

 

* * *

 

I won the competition. Soonyoung was so proud of me. My parents saw me in a different light, finally. They accepted parts of me that didn’t matter to them before.

 

And they have accepted that Kwon Soonyoung changed our lives.

 

* * *

 

 

“Play for me, darling…”

 

We’re at our apartment. We have been married for a while now. Our living room has a white grand piano situated near the glass-covered wall. It was Soonyoung’s gift to me for my birthday, and it was also the most expensive gift he’s ever given. The view is magnificent during sunrise and sunset, glorious when I play relaxing music along with the scenery.. My husband loves it when I play his favorites during these times of the day. Just like now as we sit side by side, his head on top of my shoulder as I play a song I usually don’t play.

 

 _But darling,_  
_You are the only exception..._  
_You are the only exception…_  
_You are the only exception…_  
_You are the only exception…_

 

As I sing while the sun sets, I’m reminded of my husband’s words to me—words about how he fell in love with me at the music room, about how he always used to look for me at school even though he couldn’t come near me.

 

“It’s because you’re an elite and I don’t want you to think I only want to be with you for your stupid riches.”

 

That earned him a hard smack on the shoulder.

 

I remember the day he confessed his love for me—the day he told me how he wished for a miracle to happen. So he could come closer, get to know me better. He said he was right—that I was different from what everyone else believed me to be. I’m just a boy who wanted a genuine connection with people who truly want to be with me, whether if I was a Lee or not. All I ever wanted was something that money can’t buy.

 

Money can never buy this happiness that fills my life right now, and Soonyoung made it possible for me to feel such joy. My relationship with my family became better as well.

 

_And I’m on my way to believing…_

 

And as I finish the song, I know I have made it there a long time ago. Soonyoung made me believe, and I wouldn’t want it any other way.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this on a whim for Soonhoonfest, so it was really rushed and probably do not make sense. I'm so sorry... On the same night, I got my friendly fish buddy Dory to proofread for me. I hope you enjoyed reading!


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